


Pride and Prosthetics

by CuriosityRedux



Series: Dragon Drabbles Modern [9]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Hiccstrid - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 22:17:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16752487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuriosityRedux/pseuds/CuriosityRedux
Summary: "Are you walking a cat?"





	Pride and Prosthetics

**Pride and Prosthetics**

**-**

“Are you… walking a cat?”

Astrid lifted a blonde brow at the boy who’d unceremoniously fallen onto the bench next to her. His face was pale and beading with sweat. He leaned over and pressed his head between his knees, his palms resting flat on his thighs. The rasp of labored breaths sounded as if he’d been running for miles. 

But weirdest was the bright green leash in his hand, and the sleek black cat harnessed at the end of it. 

The guy tilted his head up just enough to glance at the cat and nod. “More like he’s walking  _me_.” Wiping his forehead on the back of his arm, he winced and swallowed hard before letting his head fall again. His hair was a mess of chestnut brown chunks falling in every direction, but under the afternoon sun, they glittered with strands of bronze.

Astrid leaned back against the bench, squinting towards the gated park entrance. Heather was late for their weekly run. Again. 

She gave the lolling cat a skeptical look. He blinked up at his owner and meowed impatiently. Tugging the leash, he tried to continue down the rubber jogging path, only to be pulled short.

The words were meant to be teasing. In hindsight, she’d always blurted the first thing to come to her mind— a trouble-making habit. This time, the comment was, “How out of shape do you have to be to have trouble keeping up with a cat?”

The guy’s head snapped up. His expression had turned hostile in a half breath. He took in her well-worn tennis shoes, her exercise clothes and her high ponytail before snapping, “Funny. Really. Tell another one.” His voice dripped with malicious sarcasm. Scoffing, he turned to glare in the other direction. 

Astrid’s mouth fell open in offended indignation. She narrowed her gaze at him, searching the inside of her cheek with her tongue. “Are you just habitually rude to people?” 

He looked back at her with just as much accusation. “Depends, do you make it a practice to taunt cripples in the park?”

“Cripples—?” she blurted, but then she snapped her jaw shut so quickly her teeth clacked together. 

The guy was rubbing his left leg, just below the knee. And now that she was looking at it, his sweatpants fell oddly around his shin. In the half-inch of space between the hem of his pants’ leg and his sneaker, a metal ankle flashed. Astrid felt herself sitting forward, her eyes widening at the sudden realization. 

“I’m  _so_ sorry,” she stammered, shaking her head. Cringing, she touched her fingertips to the bridge of her nose and tried to conceal the mortification on her face. “I didn’t notice. I wasn’t even— I was trying to make a joke.”

He sniffed and shrugged, inspecting the ground between his feet like it was suddenly extraordinarily interesting. His pasty pallor and the pained way he tried to catch his breath suddenly made sense.

Astrid grit her teeth and shot another glance at the gate. Still no Heather. And she couldn’t just get up and walk away now that she’d insulted this guy and his fake leg. She was embarrassed and trapped.

"I really am sorry,” she said again. 

He took a deep breath and sighed, brushing back his sweaty bangs. “I guess it’s a compliment, if you didn’t see it,” he muttered begrudgingly. There was a little forgiveness in his tone. “It feels really obvious to me.”

That terrible habit of speaking before thinking tried to jump to her tongue, but she bit it down. Then after a moment, she asked, “Is it new? Recent, I mean?”

Sitting up, he held out his leg and turned it left and right, examining it. “Yeah. I’m supposed to be walking on it twice a week.” He scratched the stubble at his jaw. “Forgot my cane at home, though.”

“Oh.” Astrid looked down to the feline watching birds flit from tree to tree. “…At least your cat seems pretty cool about the leash.” It was the weirdest thing she’d ever seen, but also kind of endearing in a way.

He snorted, chuckling a little. “Took some adjusting. Right, Toothless?”

The cat blinked up at the sound of his name and mewled. He made a show of gnawing at his harness before trying to take off down the jogging path again. It pulled taut, jerking his owner’s hand out. 

“Give me a minute,” he scolded the restless feline. “We can’t all be as agile as you.”

Astrid watched his face as he frowned at his cat. She hadn’t noticed until now, but his eyes matched the bright green of the grass surrounding them. They were intelligent and expressive. He wasn’t exactly what one would call a heartthrob, but he was good looking in his own way. Slim, but broad-shouldered. His cheekbones were high, his jaw strong and peppered with scruff. And when he half-smiled, he was kind of handsome.

“My friend’s late,” she found herself saying, adjusting her ponytail self consciously. “If you need somebody to lean against, I’ve got some time.”

He glanced back to her. For a second he seemed to look at her the same way she’d examined him. Then he rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head. “That’s okay. We’ll be alright.”

Astrid felt the absurd need to press. She wet her lips and shrugged. “If you’re supposed to be walking with a cane… It’s probably not good for your leg to exercise without it.”

He held her gaze, the leash twisting between them as Toothless tried to pull his owner into action. His shoulders relaxed a little. “No. I guess not.”

She stuck out her hand. “Astrid. Avid jogger and accidental cripple-taunter.”

His grin grew. His smile was a little gap-toothed but charming. “Hiccup,” he replied, easily accepting the handshake. “Peg-legged and slightly oversensitive.”

The corner of her mouth pulled upwards. She liked the look of his hands. “And Toothless?”

“The unholy offspring of cuteness and death itself.”


End file.
